ST. LOUIS, Mo. – American Midwest Conference of Lyon College has been named the 2021-22 Bob Burchard American Midwest Conference (AMC) Athletics Director of the Year award.
According to a release from Lyon, the award recognizes “an outstanding athletics administrator based on accomplishments during the previous year in the areas of athletics administration and service to the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA).” Bob Burchard is the retired head coach for the Columbia College men’s basketball program in Columbia, Mo.
Kevin “Coach” Jenkins just finished his 13th year as the director of athletics and his 36th year as a Lyon College Athletic Department member.
Jenkins has always put student-athletes at the forefront of every decision, the college said. This is displayed through his dedication to the “student-first” approach. He emphasizes that Lyon College student-athletes obtain a degree first, an approach evident with the 108 student-athletes earning Academic All-Conference honors last year.
Other highlights included:
- The men’s soccer team winning the AMC regular-season title tournament championship and their first-ever NAIA National Championship Opening Round game.
- The women’s basketball team being named the AMC regular-season champions and advancing to the NAIA National Championship Opening Round for the 11th-straight season.
- Women’s wrestling being an individual national champion for the second-straight year.
- And, the baseball team winning both the AMC regular-season and tournament championships before earning a bid to the NAIA National Championship Opening Round.
Coach Jenkins also oversaw the installation of new scoreboards at House Field (softball), Huser Field (men’s and women’s soccer), and Becknell Gymnasium (men’s and women’s basketball, volleyball, and men’s and women’s wrestling — pictured below).
On top of all that, he took on the role of sports information director for a period of time in the fall and spring semesters as the hiring process was ongoing.
Jenkins also brought back a sense of normalcy to Lyon College with the return of the 42nd Annual Mark Martin Automotive/Lyon College High School Basketball Tournament, which was a four-day event that consisted of six boys and four girls teams from across northern Arkansas and southern Missouri, the release said.
The college was also the host for the High School Wrestling Meet of Champions in March. This meet was a competition pitting the best of the best in both boys and girls wrestling in Arkansas. This was also only the second time the event included the top female wrestlers in the state.
Jenkins is the secretary of the AMC Board of Athletics Administrators, a member of the NAIA-ADA Board of Directors, and now the Bob Burchard AMC Athletics Director of the Year for the second time in his career (2017-18).
He is now eligible for the NAIA Athletics Director of the Year award, which will be announced publicly during the NAIA National Awards Day in September. The winner will be presented with a certificate and recognized at an annual function in conjunction with the NAIA National Convention.
Image provided by Lyon College
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